One Punch to Banner in Savannah

MY ACCOUNT EXPIRED SO ALL MY ICONS DIED, NOOOO. All my Kyo Kara Maoh ones are a thing of the past now...

So everyone's been talking about the decade ending and stuff! At first I was like "who the hell cares, time is only something people choose to put value on," and I still agree with that, but I got to thinking about how much has really changed in the past ten years.
SO TEN YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD:
--My best friend and I still had a plan where we would go to Eastlake High School together and then go on to the UW. We'd be roommates and then always stay in touch with each other. But by 2001 I'd decided to go to UCLA to become a director/screenwriter (LOL PAST SELF SORRY), and she didn't end up going to the UW anyway, and today we're not even in contact.
--I wore tie-dye then. The horror.
--I wore Nike boys shoes because it was the only way I figured I could cross-dress.
--I had recently created characters called Akira Anonymous and Ryoga Hawkins. (Those. Names.) Obviously by this point I no longer write stories with them, of course! I mean, why would I.
--I was obsessed with Japan in general and gave everything Japanese-sounding names. In fifth grade I primarily wrote a story called "No Reason to Live" (WHAT A GOOD EMO KID I WAS) centering on brothers named Akira and Tenchi Matsuda whose friend/girlfriend Makota had gone missing. I reread it recently; it is a TERRIBLE story with terrible dialogue and terrible plot twists. A bunch of girls in my class read it back then and loved it. Go figure.
--I COULD STILL DRINK RED ROBIN MILKSHAKES WITHOUT FEELING SICK, FFFFF.
--I loved anime, but obviously the only stuff I was able to watch at the time was Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, and Tenchi Muyo. I also loved manga but only could read Takahashi stuff.
--I didn't know who CLAMP was but loved Rayearth and was freaked out by X/1999.
--I thought I was totally superior to everyone else. I still do think I'm the most awesome person alive, but I can actually justify it now. Back then I was just full of myself and "above" everyone else, but I was only better academically.
--I often stood in 38 degree weather in short sleeves in the rain because I was training to be okay in cold weather because my parents said we would go on an Alaskan cruise.
--...Basically I was totally different only really pretty much the same only not as much of a jerk. Well. I didn't realize I was being a jerk then, and that's what matters.

Ten years ago on New Year's Eve, my parents and I watched Yellow Submarine. Then they watched some movie downstairs when I went upstairs and secretly watched a South Park marathon. (They didn't let me watch it then.) I found the show quite vulgar and really didn't like it, but I made myself watch an episode anyway. Then they came up in enough time for midnight. Whatever news station we were watching showed how other parts of the world were celebrating New Year's. Las Vegas came onto the screen, and my mom said, "That looks like a nice place to live." Right then I got a terrible feeling in my stomach, and I knew we'd be moving here.

Sometimes I wonder how I'd have turned out if we'd stayed in Washington, but it's pointless to think about. We wouldn't have been able to afford it, and by sixth grade there I was burning out quickly, so I think I wouldn't have ended up nearly as happy/fulfilled/amazing as I am now. I grew up a lot in the last ten years and acquired many skills, so hopefully in the next ten years I'll be able to stand on my own two feet and proudly alert the world to my presence.

WOW AN ENTRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY or at all WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE

So I got my grades for the quarter back!! I was pretty nervous because basically every single one relied on my final exams/projects, so I wasn't really sure what they were going to turn out like. Luckily, I ended up getting my first ever A+ thanks to Natural Disasters, a B+ in Sci-Fi Lit, an A in Screenwriting, and an A in Short Fiction. As a result, it ended up beating last quarter as my best quarter at UCSD!!

SHORT RECAP OF MY CLASSES (now that I have grades back and can comfortably make judgments on them):
Intro to Playwriting: I put two Phoenix Wright references in my play. I couldn't help it. One of the characters was a lawyer, and I am weak. I actually meant to take them out after the first draft, but no one caught them, and then I forgot. Such is life. I also had one of the characters call another "reject" (because I didn't like the word that was originally there) for the sole reason that I wanted to hear someone other than me say "reject." I almost burst out giggling when my classmate had to say it when we were rehearsing... So unprofessional...
Sci-Fi Literature: I learned that I am not into sci-fi literature. What a shock. Basically, if I have to visualize it for myself, I never really want to, so as a result reading sci-fi doesn't do much for me. (Once again, I really liked Ubik, though!) But seeing it in movies and tv is fine, obviously. The fact that I wrote a serious essay about Primeval for a letter grade is something I'll never live down.
Natural Disasters: I am terrible at science. I always have been. I'll never understand it. I can study for hours and think I know everything, only to go in and find out that I don't. But ANYWAY, despite all odds that only I will ever know about, I ended up with an A+. It is a success story, reminiscent of that time in Chemistry in 10th grade when I failed every single test but got a 100% on every quiz and did all extra credit and also ended up with an A+. Only not that bad, trust me.
Short Fiction: 50% of the grade was participation-based, and I only talked when prompted. And somehow I ended up with a flat A! Another success story. I was never really clear on what "participation" was in that class, so I guess the fact I attended every class and did all my work and extra credit counted the most. Plus, like I said the other day, she really liked my visual project, which I did put a lot of thought into! (Because, secretly, this person does like doing projects like that...) But yeah, I'm really glad I got an A in it!!

So now I've been home for almost a week. I've been playing Persona 4 a lot! I got to the first time that Yosuke is a total jerk to Kanji, and I wanted to jump down his throat so badly, seriously. Instead Souji Seta sat there noncommittally until I could finally make him say something to Kanji, which didn't help the situation anyway. Oh well. Kanji meanwhile is SO CUTE. I wish he existed in real life just so I could hug him a lot.

We're decorating our tree today! Usually we do it earlier than this, but there were other things to attend to. We've started making cookies too! They're absolutely delicious so far, but that's par for the course for my family. Then tomorrow we're going to Sweet Tomatoes and to the bookstore so I can get books of my own volition and not because my courses next quarter are requiring me to, hahaha sob. Maybe I'll get something for myself anyway.

RUNDOWN POST:

1. Black Friday was really, uh, special this year because since 11th grade I've been waking up at like 4 and heading straight out. This year I got up at 6, sat around watching The Nanny for an hour, and left at about 7. What the hell was I going to go do, you know? My dad instead went out and got me The Dark Knight, and then we all went out and bought me red high-tops so now my life is mostly fulfilled. I also got an umbrella that has a huge reputation to work up to!! We'll see if it can fulfill its obligations. I also got a Mocha Frappuchino; the guy drew a smiley face for me! I think that's all I got. Yeah.

2. I DON'T THINK I HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY YET but tomorrow I'm headed straight back to the mines. I have to shake people down and make them sign paperwork for me.

3. I played Persona 4 for seven hours this weekend! This is as much as I played it all summer. ( My unintelligible ranting will go under this cut. )

I THINK I'LL JUST HIT POST BEFORE REREADING ANY OF THAT AND DELETING IT (GOOD PLAN!!)

Yesterday I went to the aquarium! I had to do a 4-paged worksheet for my class. It was really boring and involved going through exhibits and watching scientists talk for an hour. But I got to go look at the fish, and they had THE CUTEST LEOPARD SHARKS EVER. There were three of them in the tank with some other fish, and they each had their own personalities! There was one at the top of the tank with this HUGE SMILE who kept sticking his head out of the water and sticking it back in and swimming quickly around, and then there was in the middle with a half-smile who was just kinda following him around, and then there was one near the ground who was all >| >| >| and swimming warily and ahhhh I could have watched them forever. I was grinning so hard. It made the entire thing worth it.

So today I volunteered to have my play revision done by Tuesday! I also have to have one of my stories revised by Tuesday (I'm doing the jousei one, natch). And I have to meet my fiction professor to talk about my second story. And I have a science midterm on Monday. I guess it's not as much as I thought... I guess I should also start researching for my Sci-Fi paper. I decided to do it on Heat Guy J because Gundam is so high school (aunque Yzak aún es soldado que lucha contra su amigo). But today I started thinking I don't have the effort to think about sci-fi elements in that series I should do Primeval instead. Because Primeval is Primeval.

I'm off to do homework now!

Today was that beach trip! It was actually pretty boring because all we did was listen to the TA talk about faults and stuff. We had to draw diagrams of stuff too, and none of us had any idea what we were doing, so we kept looking over at each other's papers and copying each other. We had to separate into two groups at the beginning, so I went in a group with this cute boy wearing a Billabong shirt that I really wanted to buy in red at Disneyland back in June, but it cost over 40 dollars so I couldn't get it. My shoes didn't actually get messed up!! Sand didn't get in them at all; I was impressed.

I didn't end up going to the aquarium because it was too far to walk, and I ended up in the back of the shuttle so I just decided to screw it. Instead I went back to campus and got lunch and fro-yo. (The fro-yo only cost $1.13 even though I got a lot with a ton of cherries!! I was so happy.) Oh yeah, yesterday I got yakatori! It was delicious and tasted like that one box of Christmas decorations at my house smells. If that makes any sense at all. I even got green onions on them even though I have a phobia of green onions. My eating habits are still mysterious.

For some reason I really want to put all my school books for next quarter on my Christmas list and be like, "Please buy me these before anything else! ♥" NO SELF NO; THAT ISN'T THE EXAMPLE I'VE SET FOR YOU ALL THESE YEARS. I realized that I haven't bought myself anything since September 30 (Yotsuba& 6), and then I was like, "What am I talking about! I buy myself food every day. I should be satisfied by that." I can't tell if I've become jaded or practical. I am weirdly satisfied this way, too. I feel like buying a ton of stuff just to spite myself now.

Today I was proactive AGAIN and went to a practicum info session. I was wondering if I'd find out how long the proposals are supposed to be, so I figured I might as well go. Predictably, the proposal wasn't even mentioned, just what you could do to satisfy the practicum in the first place. But I did get a pack of Whoppers out of it! And the adviser said that if you're doing an internship, then she pretty much approves you automatically, which was nice to hear. Then on the way out I looked at a bulletin board which stated the maximum length for proposals, so in the end it wasn't a wasted trip.

Then I went to Burger King, since I had a coupon for a free Whopper. I guess that was the theme of today. I had a Diet Coke too, of course.

Next Friday I'm going to have to do stuff too; I have to go on the beach walk for my Natural Disasters class. Plus while I'm down there, I figure I'll go the aquarium, since we have to do an assignment there too for the class. Might as well save time, and I get in free because I'll be going through the educator entrance.

Oh yeah, and I have next Wednesday off! It's so weird to have the middle of the week off.

Today my playwriting TA said that, since our class is small, we should have the first drafts of our plays ready in a week (instead of next Thursday like it said on the syllabus). So I guess I should get started on that! I don't feel like it tonight, though. I also have to write another story for Fiction by next Thursday, but I don't really have any ideas for it yet. My professor said that she really likes creepy stuff, so I'll guess I'll bring that to the yard again instead of toning it down! ("Everyone said your last piece was creepy, though." SHUT UP IT WAS NOT.)

I noticed yesterday that so far in my Fiction class, the girls' stories are about relationships, while the guys' are about post-apocalyptic stuff. (Seriously, practically all of them. It's weird.) Even I wasn't the exception... But one guy said in his letter to me, "Usually I don't like this kind of relationship-y stuff, but this was pretty damn good," HAHAHA. So whatever, I guess I just have a different take on that kind of thing.

Meanwhile, in my Sci-Fi class, we've begun to discuss Watchmen. And for some reason I was able to see every panel we were talking about in my mind even though I've only read it 1.5 times and seen the movie, which was weird. My professor mentioned stuff like how the tone in comics shifted in the 80s, and about the Comics Code, and I was like, "...Wow, I know all this stuff just from reading my dad's column." (I ALSO accidentally spoke up for the first time in class because some girl asked if having separate people being writer and artist was the norm, since she always thought the same person did both jobs, and my professor said, "Well, Frank Miller both wrote and drew some of his work... Right?" and sounded unsure, so I went, "YEAH," without thinking about it, and a few people turned and looked at me, sob.)

I GUESS I SHOULD DO ACTUAL WORK NOW; also only three weeks yes~

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN YESTERDAY:

So today I was super nervous for a few reasons, and then my body decided to do that secret stress thing today so I was in TERRIBLE physical condition. But then everything turned out well for the most part, so I'm just so relieved.

First I had to present the revision of my play scenario to my playwriting class! They gave one suggestion about it, and I was like, "Oh yeah, that would be better than how it is now, thanks," and then my TA said he loved the scenario and couldn't wait to read it! And I was the only person told that today, aaaah so happy. (I think I'm feeling inspired to go on to taking a screenwriting class, whenever they're offering that. I always do write things in my head more for tv or movies than novel format, so I really should look into it.)

Then much later in the day my story was being reviewed in my fiction class, and it was the last one (out of three) that we were discussing today so it was kind of nervewracking. And then everyone loved it except for like two people AAAAAAAH I AM SO HAPPY. They wrote me such nice comments on the letters they gave me. ;; I'm so glad everything turned out for the best. I'll just continue to believe in myself!!

I am so tired right now, so thank goodness tomorrow's Friday. WHAT A STRESSFUL WEEK. But I think I'll be able to take it easy(ish) for the next few days.

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN TODAY:

MY INTERNET DIED ON ME. It had been acting up for the past week (not connecting me for like an hour after starting my computer), but it stopped working all together last night at 11:30 (right before I was about to post the above). So today I had to talk to three people. The first two were helpful, but the third was from a different company (my router stopped working, so I called my cable company first and they sent me to the router makers) who offered no good solutions. So I resorted to using my 30-foot connector cable, and that worked! Only now it stretches across three rooms and is both an eyesore and a hazard. I can't wait to talk to my roommate about it when she gets home! This crap always seems to happen to me.

Today after I ate lunch I went over to the literature building! They were, thankfully, open. So I went up to the woman working the front desk and asked if I could make an appointment. "Oh," she replied, "we don't make appointments anymore. We just do walk-ins."

I took on that look where my mouth is smiling but my eyes really aren't, and as I tried to convince myself not to respond with, "But, um, your sign out front that I just read states that you make appointments. I guess ALL of your signs lie," she continued to say, "So do you just want to walk in now?" And I was like, "...Yes. Please."

So then I went into an adviser's office, and first I had to wait for her to finish whatever she was doing, and then I told her I wanted to change my major, and then she went through my file, and then she was like, "Okay, cool, looks like everything is order! So you just have to change it on [our school website], and they'll get back to you!"

So, basically, I didn't even need to go in or talk to anyone or sign any papers.

BASICALLY, I COULD HAVE DONE THIS BACK IN JUNE.

Anyway, I submitted it for review, so someone should email me sooner or later and be like, "'k cool you are a writing major." Hopefully they'll say that, at least.

In other news, I forgot to mention this yesterday, but the guy working the internship desk at the time? Recognized me. Apparently we had nonfiction class together last year. I vaguely remembered him after he said this (we didn't have section together, and there were 90 people in the class, so). It's just so weird that people keep recognizing me when I've never spoken to them before.

I watched the third Bleach movie today! It was strangely good. The plot wasn't boring, and there weren't any real plotholes, and even though Ishida didn't show up at all, I still enjoyed it. It actually made me fall back in love with the series a bit. (Then I remembered how the manga's currently nonstop battles mixed with females getting mutilated/dying, and I fell a bit back out again.) And I love Renji. Even though it's been years since I didn't like him, it still feels weird.

Today my dad got a drawing from Kate Beaton at the convention he was at! I am so happy, words can't describe. I found out she was there this morning, and I freaked out and made an overly nervous call to my dad (because I was worried about bothering him, haha), but everything worked out!

I still have some homework to do. Mainly I still have to write a scenario and then do stuff for Fiction. I did my science homework due next Friday, though! I basically just do easy homework first and then put off everything else as long as I can. Not really a good move. So I guess I should get on that!